Halle Berry and the continuation of the black woman as the jezebel/mulata stereotype

Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry

The more I watch the actions of actress Halle Berry, the more I wonder if she actually knows about the stereotype of the black woman as the lascivious, sexualized whore. As I review some of Berry’s appearances and movie roles, I wonder what type of image she is trying to establish. I asked myself this question again recently when Berry accepted an award for basically being the sexiest woman for the past 10 years. After actor Jamie Foxx presented the Spike TV Award to Berry, Berry grabbed Foxx and the two commenced to create a hot love scene onstage complete with Foxx grabbing Halle’s booty and Halle grabbing Foxx’s…“package”. I thought to myself, she did it again!

During their outrageous “performance”, people were probably thinking, “go to a hotel”!

But this seems to be Halle’s history.

In 2002, Berry took the lead role in the film Monster’s Ballafter at least two other black actresses decided not to accept the role. Actress Angela Bassett said she “wasn’t going to be a prostitute on film. I couldn’t do that because it’s such a stereotype about black women and sexuality.”

According to Berry, when she read the script for the film, she related to the character, Leticia, and had to fight for the role because the director didn’t envision her in the role. Explaining why she fought for this role, Berry explained, “I think being a woman, especially a black woman, I can identify with her struggle against racism.”

Adrien Brody, Halle Berry, Monster’s Ball (2002)

She proceeded to film one of the most pornographic sex scenes in the history of American film with white actor Billy Bob Thornton. I wonder how many black women were reminded of the master/concubine relationships of the slavery era as they watched that scene. Berry received an Oscar for her “performance”.

Apparently, Berry didn’t know how racism, exploitation and sex have been intertwined in former slave societies. This is the exact history of Afro-Brazilian and African-American women. While American elites accused white predators of black flesh of defiling their bodies, Brazilian elites have romanticized the sexual violence against black women for many years and created the myth of a racial democracy that was initiated in the slave quarters. But let us remember, there can never be harmony and equality in any situation in which one person owns another. Black women of both countries also endured post-slavery sexual coercion in which they were forced to have sexual relations with white men and/or their sons in order to keep their jobs as domestics in homes of white families.

In another memorable Halle Berry moment, there was the kiss with actor Adrien Brody at the 2003 Oscars. Of course, someone could argue that the was initiated kiss by Brody, but the question is, would he have attempted that kiss with a well-known, respected white actress? Consider the sexualization of the secretary Sharon Stone portrayed by Berry in the film version of The Flintstones. Or Berry showing her breasts in the 2004 film Swordfish. Was that a ploy to tell Hollywood she was willing to do anything to become a top actress?

In Brazil, there is a popular saying that continues to be popular in regards to women: “White women for marriage, mulatas for fornication, negras for work.”

When one considers that in Brazil, any attractive black woman can be considered a mulatta, we understand that the role reserved for Afro-Brazilian women is work and sex. The respect and decency of marriage and a life free of work is reserved for the white woman. The term mulata can be interpreted three ways in Brazil. The first is a woman of mixed African/European ancestry. The second is any attractive woman of African descent. The third is the stereotype of the attractive black woman who is a sexual expert and always available for any man sexually. In America, the stereotype of the sexually attractive, aggressive and available woman of African descent is the jezebel. These stereotypes have affected the social status, value and image of the black woman throughout the world. The value of the black woman can be denigrated by men of any race.

Orfeu (1999), Isabel Fillardis

We see examples of the sexual availability of black women in American films like Monster’s Ball as well as Brazilian films like the 1999 remake of the classic 1959 film, Black Orpheus(simply titled Orfeu). In one of the opening scenes, Afro-Brazilian actor/musician Toni Garrido is shown having sex with his girlfriend, Mira, played by Afro-Brazilian actress Isabelle Fillardis. In the scene, Garrido and Fillardis engage in aggressive sexual intercourse and the camera displays the full, nude body of Fillardis. Later in the film, Garrido pursues Euridice, played by actress Patricia França. Although França is not exactly white, by Brazilian standards, she is a white woman of mixed race. In Patricia’s love scene with Garrido, the viewer doesn’t see her body and the scene is projected as a romantic, dream-like interlude. The contrast in the love scenes is the perfect example of the respective images of black and white women in Brazilian society.

Isabel Fillardis, Toni Garrido

In retrospect, considering Halle’s decisions and image, she probably doesn’t know that there is a Brazilian song that fits the worldwide social contrast of black women and white women perfectly: “A carne mais barata do mercado. É a carne negra” – The cheapest meat in the market is the dark (black) meat.